Sports Bulletin Report
Terrassa, Spain:-The 2022 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup (1-17 July 2022) will be jointly hosted in Terrassa, Spain and Amsterdam, Netherlands as 16 qualified teams pursue the biggest and most cherished prize in hockey alongside the Olympics. This is where legends are made with the world’s finest players battling it out to become the very best.
FIH President Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra welcomed the draw and the event by video message to the ceremony guests as well as the global hockey community. He is joined in supporting the event by several dignitaries including Mr Jordi Ballart, Mayor of Terrassa; Ms Anna Caula, General Secretary for Sport and Physical Activity; Mr Santi Deó, RFEH President; Mr Miguel Ángel Moreno, Organizing Committee President; Mrs Marijke Fleuren, FIH EB Member and EHF President; and Eric Cornelissen, KNHB President.
The draw itself was conducted by FIH CEO Thierry Weil and Spanish legends Berta Bonastre – who will be the Tournament Director – and Santi Freixa who links both venues, growing up in Terrassa and living currently in Amsterdam.
Pool A is headed up by world number one side – and reigning champions – The Netherlands (FIH World Ranking: 1) who will meet Ireland (WR: 12) in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup final. They will also be joined in the group by Germany (WR: 5) and Chile (WR: 17); the South American side will be competing in their first ever World Cup campaign.
In Pool B, England (WR: 3) are the top seed and they were drawn to face India (WR: 9) with many of the potential players having met each other in the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal match when the former were representing Great Britain. New Zealand (WR: 8) and China (WR: 14) complete their group with both playing in their ninth World Cup. Pool A and B will both be hosted at the Wagener Stadium in the Netherlands.
Pool C will feature two-time champions Argentina (WR: 2) at the head of the group. They will come up against Spain (WR: 6) in front of their home Terrassa crowd along with Korea (WR: 11) and Canada (WR: 13), who will play in the World Cup for the first time since 1994.
Pool D will also take place in Terrassa. Australia (WR: 4) are the highest ranked side and will be seeking to win their third World Cup title following success in 1994 and 1998. They face Belgium’s rising Red Panthers (WR: 7), Japan (WR: 10) and African champions South Africa (WR: 16).
Xan de Waard (NED): “It was very exciting – I am really looking forward to playing Chile because I have never played them before. Our preparation is on track and we are improving every day. We had a really good training trip to Valencia for training and now we are in Mannheim so we are looking forward to playing more Pro League games and hopefully we will be ready when the World Cup comes.”
Gigi Oliva (ESP): “It’s great, it means we can start preparing for facing Argentina, Korea and Canada. Obviously it will be a really difficult group with very different styles of hockey.”
Maria Lopez (ESP): “We have a lot of new players and members of staff. We are very excited to play in the Pro League which gives us a chance to grow as a team before the World Cup.”
FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup, July 1-17, 2022
Pool A: Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Chile
Pool B: England, New Zealand, India, China
Pool C: Argentina, Spain, Korea, Canada
Pool D: Australia, Belgium, Japan, South Africa
